Nick Kyrgios is singing a different tune.
The mercurial and temperamental Aussie is fancying his chances of winning a Grand Slam.
“Hopefully one day”, at any rate.
The 27-year-old from Canberra has spoken in the past about the importance — for him, anyway — of providing entertainment to the fans who pay to watch and his inability to focus on giving his very best over a span of two weeks.
But, on Sunday at Wimbledon, he seemed to present a persona not seen before from him.
“It's like not many people have gotten over the hump of winning a slam. I'm one of the people that has to deal with that every week,” Kyrgios said at a press conference.
“Like, ‘Oh, he's probably one of the biggest wastes of talent. He should be winning a slam’. Not many people have actually gotten over that hump in singles.
“It's obviously something I want to get over, and hopefully one day.”
Something is not right here.
But he knows what it takes to win at Wimbledon and strongly believes he has it in him.
“For me, I just know if I'm serving well and I'm playing well, I can beat anyone. I have pretty much beaten everyone in the draw before,” he said.
“I know from a confidence standpoint, I'm never low on that. I've had some good runs here at Wimbledon, at the Australian Open.
“I've always run into someone that's pretty much in their prime.I played Murray here in the fourth round when he won the final 4-4-4. He was in his prime. My draw was ridiculously tough to get there.
“I think honestly the best chance I ever had to win a slam was in 2015 when I made the quarterfinals. I had Raonic in the quarterfinals, up a set and a break. That's as close as I've been.
“I think I need to focus on the earlier rounds, make sure I get it done as quick as possible.
“I'm not even thinking about winning it or anything at the moment. I got another couple days to just practice and feel good, then we'll see what happens.”
Who can argue? After all, he beat Rafael Nadal in their first ever meeting, in the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2019.
Kyrgios’ first round opponent is home wildcard Paul Jubb, a 22-year-old ranked 219 on the ATP Tour.
And the Aussie said he was perfectly aware of what the youngster, who had received a wildcard in 2019 as well, must be experiencing.
“I can put myself in his shoes very well. I was once that kid that got a wildcard at the Australian Open. Felt really good just to be around, soak it all in, the media, the fans, everything, the hype,” he said.
“I know how he's going to be feeling. He's going to go out there and he's going to just play freely, nothing to lose.
“So I know it's going to be a dangerous match. It's not always easy to be the favourite, I've had matches like that and it hasn't gone well.
“I know I just got to ride the waves emotionally out there because the crowd is obviously going to be behind the local. I'm used to wearing that kind of black hat, the villain-type role.
“I'm going to embrace it. I'm just going to go out there and play the game.”
